Gift Anxiety
by Heavenly Pearl
Summary: White Day is fast approaching, and Yuki is on a mission to find the perfect gift for Tohru.


Gift Anxiety

It was the week before White Day, and Sohma Yuki still had no idea what to buy Tohru to thank her for the chocolates she had given him on Valentine's Day.

Knowing Tohru, she wouldn't want anything too extravagant, so jewelry was obviously out of the question, and Yuki definitely was not taking any of Shigure's lascivious suggestions. He thought maybe a book might be nice, but Tohru didn't strike him as much of a reader. She didn't listen to music much either, so that ruled out giving her a CD. Yuki didn't even know if she owned a CD player.

"A new vacuum cleaner?" Yuki mused to himself, immediately shaking his head. That fell under the category of "too extravagant." Besides, while he didn't have much experience when it came to the fairer sex, he knew enough to know that vacuum cleaners were not considered romantic gifts by the majority of women.

Sighing, he was just about to head outside to his "secret base" to tend to his vegetables and ponder his dilemma some more when Yuki saw Tohru slipping into her shoes in the entrance hall. "Are you going out, Honda-san?" he asked.

Looking up, Tohru smiled and nodded. "I want to make a cake for dessert tonight, but we're out of eggs, so I'm going to the store to buy some, as well as a few other things we need."

"I'll come with you," Yuki said before he even realized what he was saying.

"Um, you don't have to," she said, waving her hands in front of her. "I'm only buying a few things, so I can handle the bags on my own."

"I don't mind. Besides, I need to do some shopping myself in town."

Before she could offer to do his shopping for him, Yuki put on his shoes and grabbed a light coat from the closet. "Here," he said, handing one to Tohru as well. "It's a bit chilly today."

"Thank you."

After putting on their coats, they left Shigure's house and headed on their way together into town. For most of the walk there, they didn't talk much, although it wasn't necessarily an uncomfortable silence. Somehow, just being around Tohru always put Yuki at ease. She was the only person he felt he could be himself around, which was why he was determined to find the perfect White Day present to give her.

When they finally reached the grocery store where Tohru always liked to shop, Yuki stopped but made no move to enter. "Will thirty minutes be enough time for you to finish your shopping?" he asked when Tohru gave him a confused look.

She nodded. "Y-Yes, that should be plenty of time."

"Okay, I'll meet you back here in half an hour, then," Yuki decided, giving Tohru a smile so she wouldn't be too suspicious about what he planned to do.

Fortunately for him, Tohru was rarely one to pry in his personal business. She smiled back at him, then headed inside the store without asking where he going.

Once she was safely inside, Yuki continued walking, looking at all the store windows along the way and hoping inspiration would strike. Half an hour wasn't much time to find the perfect gift, but he didn't want to keep Tohru waiting for him too long. About half a block away from the grocery store, Yuki spotted a cute little shop called _Belle Reve_. It was undeniably girly, its window display showing a scene of teddy bears and dolls in lacy dresses holding a tea party, but it seemed like just the kind of store Tohru would like to shop at. In fact, he vaguely remembered her carrying a small bag from the store home once, once of the few times he remembered Tohru buying something for herself.

As he entered the store, a small bell chimed above the door, announcing his arrival. A quick look around revealed that he was their only customer at the moment, a fact that made Yuki sigh with relief. A place like this undoubtedly attracted mostly females, and he didn't want to risk accidentally bumping into one of them and reverting to his Zodiac form.

Not to mention the fact that he would never be able to live it down if one of the girls from school saw him shopping there. It had been embarrassing enough when the senior girls made him wear that awful dress for the school cultural festival; there was no need to further fuel their cross-dressing fantasies.

While he gawked at a display of tiny decorated shoes that were obviously not made for wearing, wondering who would want to buy something so ridiculous, Yuki was startled when he sensed somebody come up behind him, the smell of heavy floral perfume making it slightly difficult for him to breathe.

"Looking for anything special, cutie?" a feminine voice asked.

Yuki turned around and came face-to-face with a young woman who appeared to be either in her late twenties or early thirties at the most, although Yuki couldn't help but think she looked more like one of the dolls in the store window, dressed in a frilly pink frock and her curly blonde hair pulled back with over-sized bow. He hadn't noticed her when he came in, but he guessed she was one of the store's employees from the name tag she wore on her lacy apron. The tag said her name was Yvette, even though she spoke with a perfect Japanese accent.

"Oh, I'm just browsing," Yuki said, instinctively stepping back as he usually did around women he didn't know.

"This isn't normally the kind of store a teenage boy normally browses in," Yvette said with an amused smile, "although I must say you _are _pretty enough to pass for a girl. With the right dress and a hair ornament or two…"

Not wanting the woman to get the wrong idea about him, Yuki decided it was best to tell her the truth. He recognized the look in Yvette's eyes all too well. It was the same look the senior girls used to coarse him into wearing that ridiculous dress they made. "Actually, I'm looking for a White Day gift for a friend of mine."

"Just one? A pretty boy like you, girls were surely falling all over themselves to give you chocolate on Valentine's Day."

If she only knew the half of it…

"Only one girl matters to me," Yuki said, again looking at the tiny painted shoes. "Do girls really like these things?"

"Oh, yes, they're very collectable right now. Is your girlfriend a collector?"

Yuki felt his cheeks slightly warm at the "girlfriend" remark, but he didn't bother to correct her. "I-I'm not sure."

"Well, we have plenty of other things she might like." Yvette beckoned him to follow her, leading him to another display. The new display showed off fancy picture frames, covered in rhinestones, beads, and other such sparkly decorations. "These picture frames are some of our best sellers and make excellent gifts, especially when paired up with a special photograph."

"Maybe…"

Yuki selected one of the less embellished frames that he thought Tohru might like and looked it over. It would go well with the picture of her mother Tohru considered to be one of her prized possessions, but he wondered if it would be rude and even a little morbid to give her something like that. _It probably would be a bit insensitive, _he decided and placed the picture frame back on the shelf.

"Not quite it?" Yvette guessed. "Well, how about these adorable kitt--"

"No," Yuki immediately said, shaking his head upon seeing the porcelain cat figurines Yvette pointed out next. "Definitely no cats."

"Your girlfriend's not a fan, huh?"

"Something like that."

To be truthful, Tohru would probably love receiving one of cute kitten figurines as a gift, but hell would freeze over before Yuki would ever deign to buy something like that without the express purpose of smashing it to tiny little pieces.

"Do you have any rat-related merchandise?" he asked, looking around at some of the other shelves.

Yvette raised an eyebrow. "Rat-related?" she repeated. "Well, we do have some Mickey Mouse merchandise. I suppose that would fall under the category of 'rat-related'. Would you like to have a look?"

Yuki shook his head. "No, that's quite all right. What else do you have?" he asked, looking down at his watch. He only had fifteen minutes before he had to meet Tohru back at the grocery store. If he didn't find something quick, he would have to come back to the shop at a later date, a situation he would rather not be in.

Pondering his question, Yvette tapped her chin with her finger in contemplation. "Oh, I know!" she said, grabbing Yuki's wrist and pulling him toward the back.

Yuki did his best not to crash into her when Yvette suddenly stopped without warning in front of a wall covered with various hair accessories, but it was quick save on his part. One second more, and she would have discovered why he had been so interested in "rat-related" merchandise.

"Does your girlfriend has long hair?"

After regaining his bearings, Yuki nodded. "Honda-san has shoulder-length brown hair that she usually ties back with rib--"

Yuki paused.

A ribbon.

Such a simple thing, but it was the perfect present for Tohru -- not too extravagant, and something she would definitely use. Spotting a light pink satin ribbon that Yuki thought would look good with Tohru's coloring, he pulled it down from the wall and handed it to Yvette. "I'll take this, please."

Yvette grinned. "An excellent choice, sir," she said, motioning him to follow her to the register up front to ring it up. "Would you like to buy a decorative gift pouch as well?"

"Yes, please."

From behind the register, Yvette pulled out three different pouches to show him. Yuki decided the paisley-print was the prettiest and had Yvette place the ribbon inside the pouch instead of using one of the _Belle Reve _bags to carry them home. After he finished paying, he put the pouch in the inside pocket of his coat so that Tohru wouldn't see.

"Thank you for shopping at _Belle Reve_, and please come again," Yvette said cheerfully as Yuki left the store, the bell above the door tinkling once again to announce his leaving.

Outside, he glanced down at his watch. Five minutes left. Yuki immediately headed back to the grocery store, only stopping for a moment at a newsstand along the way to buy a couple of gardening magazines and a newspaper for Shigure when he realized he didn't have any bags to show for his "shopping". Tohru was already waiting for him in front of the grocery store when he arrived back, a sack of groceries in each hand.

"I'm sorry, Honda-san," Yuki apologized, coming up to her. "I didn't keep you waiting too long, did I?"

Tohru shook her head. "No, not at all," she said, smiling brightly as always, although Yuki knew she wouldn't have complained even if he had. "Did you finish your shopping?"

"Yes." He held up the bag from the newsstand, then took one of Tohru's sacks from her hands. "Here, I'll carry that."

"Thank you."

And, with that, the two of them walked back to Shigure's house, Yuki smiling privately to himself as he imagined Tohru's beautiful brown hair pulled back by a pink satin ribbon.

DISCLAIMER: "Fruits Basket" is the property of Takaya Natsuki.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This fic was written for the 15pairings community at LiveJournal, Theme: Thoughtful.


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